Surat: Police here have seized around half a tonne of ganja allegedly smuggled from Odisha in a truck and arrested three persons in this regard.
Police said following a tip-off, Crime Branch sleuths intercepted the truck near Puna Saroli road and seized 564.51 kg of ganja packed in 15 gunny bags from a hidden cabinet behind the driver’s cabin on Tuesday evening. They arrested the truck driver and two others.
The accused were identified as Mithun Swain (25), Tukuna Gouda (34) and Basant Swain (32). They all hail from Aska area in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (Surat Crime Branch), RR Sarvaiya said the accused confessed during interrogation that they were transporting the contraband from Aska to Surat.
The also revealed that the ganja belonged to one Dilip Gouda of Ganjam district and who stays at Pandesara in Surat.
Dilip, who is in Ganjam at present, had asked Mithun to hand over his truck on September 9. Later, he made secret cabinets behind the driver’s cabin and hid the ganja in them. Dilip then paid Rs 80,000 to Mithun and told him to deliver it to his men at Pandesara in Surat. “We have declared Dilip Gauda as wanted in this case,” Sarvaiya said.
